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Zina's Harrowing Rescue Story

"Yesterday evening, we finally got Zina to go into the enclosure and take the bait," the Facebook post reads. Lisa Rose Rublack, from our Lost and Found Pets of North Jersey team, had been working the case of lost dog Zina since February, which was finally resolved this Thanksgiving weekend.

Many people assume it's hard to lose a pet; that only careless pet owners lose dogs and cats. However, pets are unpredictable. It's important to take safety measures to avoid losing pets. It's also important to microchip your pets so, if they do become lost, you are the first point of contact when an animal control officer or veterinarian is called upon to scan the embedded chip.

After Zina went missing, she was skittish and moved around a lot. She spent three months in three neighborhoods (Washington, Hillsdale and Paramus, New Jersey). Then, for three months, nobody spotted her anywhere in northern Bergen County. Later, a video appeared on the Internet tipping off our rescuers that Zina had been spotted in Hackensack.

"Once we decided where to put the enclosure we had her within two weeks," Lisa says. "You just never knew which neighborhood she would be in, but she was starting to be more predictable."

Lisa credits this success story to a whole team including Lauren Larco, Tracey Melfi and Tyco Animal Control Services. NJ STRAYS provided trapping equipment and Spanish language translation. As Lisa says, it really does take a village to find a lost pet in New Jersey!